USA Dot Com is a blog covering politics and government from a conservative Christian perspective. Verne Strickland is a 50-year veteran of investigative journalism. This blog offers a take-no-prisoners style with a modicum of biting satire. Verne and his wife of 55 years, Durrene, live in Wilmington, NC.

Friday, June 15, 2012

By Dennis Prager

Verne Strickland Blogmaster: My patriotic friend Jude Eden sent a video about Dennis Prager's refreshing stance on American exceptionalism. This led me to track down this stirring article, which I offer here. Intended for every proud American. June 15, 2012

As the passage of the bill that will start the process of
nationalizing health care in America becomes almost inevitable, so, too,
the process of undoing America’s standing as The Last Best Hope of
Earth will have begun.
That description of America was not, as more than a few Americans on
the left believe, made by some right-wing chauvinist. It was made by
President Abraham Lincoln in an address to Congress on Dec. 1, 1862.
The bigger the American government becomes, the more like other
countries America becomes. Even a Democrat has to acknowledge the simple
logic: America cannot at the same time be the last best hope of earth
and increasingly similar to more and more countries.
Either America is unique, in which case it at least has the
possibility of uniquely embodying hopes for mankind — or it is not
unique, in which case it is by definition not capable of being the last
best hope for humanity — certainly no more so than, let us say, Sweden
or the Netherlands.
Indeed, President Obama acknowledged this in April, when asked by a
European reporter if he believes in American exceptionalism. The
president’s response:

“I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect
that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe
in Greek exceptionalism.”

The president was honest. In his view, as in the view of today’s
Democratic party, America is special only in the same way we parents
regard our children as “special.” We all say it and we all believe it,
but we know that it is meaningless except as an emotional expression of
our love for our children. If every is child is equally special, none
can be special, in fact. If every country is exceptional, then no
country is exceptional, or at least no more so than any other.
With the largest expansion of the American government and state since
the New Deal, the Democratic party — alone — is ending a key factor in
America’s uniqueness and greatness: individualism, which is made
possible only when there is limited government.
The formula here is not rocket science: The more the government/state does, the less the individual does.
America’s uniqueness and greatness has come from a number of sources,
two of which are its moral and social value system, which is a unique
combination of Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian values, and its
emphasis on individual liberty and responsibility.
Just as the left has waged war on America’s Judeo-Christian roots, it has waged war on individual liberty and responsibility.
Hillel, the most important rabbi of the Talmud (which, alongside the
Hebrew Bible, is Judaism’s most important book), summarized the human
being’s obligations in these famous words: “If I am not for myself, who
will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now,
when?”
What does this mean in the present context? It means that before anything else, the human being must first take care of himself.

When people who are capable of taking care of themselves start
relying on the state to do so, they can easily become morally inferior
beings. When people who could take care of their family start relying on
the state to do so, they can easily become morally inferior. And when
people who could help take care of fellow citizens start relying on the
state to do so, the morally coarsening process continues.
There has always been something profoundly ennobling about American
individualism and self-reliance. Nothing in life is as rewarding as
leading a responsible life in which one has not to depend on others for
sustenance. Little, if anything, in life is as rewarding as successfully
taking care of oneself, one’s family and one’s community. That is why
America has always had more voluntary associations than any other
country.
But as the state and government have gotten bigger, voluntary
associations have been dying. Why help others if the state will do it?
Indeed, as in Scandinavia, the attitude gradually becomes: why even help
myself when the state will do it?
Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are right about one thing —
they are indeed making history. But their legacy will not be what they
think. They will be known as the people who led to the end of America as
the last best hope of earth.
Lincoln weeps.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

New post on It's Political

The
NC7 election was very instructive because it illuminated and reaffirmed
many things we need to know about the Republican party and how they
operate.

In
the spring of 2011, the races hadn’t even begun for the general public,
but the back-room deals had already begun and deeds set in motion to
cripple Conservative Ilario Pantano and to favor David Rouzer to win.

First,
RINO Senator Bob Rucho hired a Democrat precinct chair and member of
the amnesty-for-illegals-supporting – not to mention
racist-extremist-groups La Raza and El Pueblo to re-draw the NC7
district lines in favor of David Rouzer, who announced he was running
hours after the lines were redrawn.[1]
The new district lines now suddenly excluded Pantano-friendly military
base communities like Onslow County and the Fort Bragg area, and now
included Rouzer’s Johnston county with its favoritism to Big Agriculture
and Big Tobacco who benefit heavily from illegal labor. Members of the
NHCGOP and others from the coastal part of the district went to Raleigh
to voice their objections to no avail.

Next,
the Johnston County GOP headquarters only carried information about
Rouzer, and when locals seeking information on Pantano asked where they
could find it, they were given fake information and sent on wild goose
chases. Pantano himself as well as supporters were kicked off JCGOP
social media sites so as not to allow any alternative information or any
disputation of Rouzer propaganda.

When
it came to the debate held in Johnston County, they changed the time of
the debate several times and didn’t publicize it. Only about 25 Rouzer
supporters showed up to the JC debate. The organizers of that debate
didn’t want his supporters to see what a sorry debater he was when
compared to Ilario Pantano. 3 of the 4 debates were recorded, and all
show that Pantano was far and away superior to his opponents. Pantano
was also prevented from attending and speaking to the JC convention,
while Rouzer was made the keynote speaker. They did everything they
could to prevent the people of Johnston County from making an informed
decision on their candidate.

Rouzer
did everything he could to avoid being at events where Ilario would be
for this same reason. As a speaker, Rouzer is a total flop. He
inspires nothing but flowers to wilt, his audience to fall asleep as he
fumbles through barely-memorized speeches and pithy sayings. He did not
run on his record because he didn’t have a great record on which to
run. As much as possible he had others speak for him instead of
standing on his own.

Our
economy is in the tank, people are desperate for jobs while millions of
illegals are being employed. Even veterans returning from war are
struggling to find work. Rouzer himself worked on a farm to pay for
college, yet campaigned that working on farms and in construction was
work “Americans, frankly, aren’t willing to do.” Another part of his
campaign was that Ilario Pantano, being from New York, wasn’t “one of
us” in NC. Yet illegal immigrants are?

Rouzer
did not win because he was the better, more Conservative candidate, the
stronger opponent to the Democrats and Obama. He won because, despite
his deep flaws, sagging performance, he had the big Republican machine
behind him. Even with redistricting and the Republican party machine
doing everything they could to favor him, Rouzer still only managed to
win by 3000 votes, and that largely in his own county far from the
coast. That’s what a pathetic candidate he is.

Let
us turn to RINO Rouzer supporters. In 2010 Senator Thom Goolsby ran as
a Tea Party Conservative, endorsed Pantano in 2010 and used Pantano’s
volunteers and phone center to get himself elected. Within 5 months of
getting elected, he turned tail to endorse the Rouzer for the 2012
election. On the radio Friday after the primary[2]
he said that all the Republican freshmen backed Rouzer. Thanks to him
for giving us important information. Now we know what spineless RINO’s
the freshmen are, that they too support amnesty for illegals and will do
everything they can to quell and nullify the Conservative voices in
Southeastern NC.

Goolsby
also said on that show that he supported Rouzer so that we would have
the best chance of beating Obama in November. How utterly laughable!
Pantano is so obviously the strongest asset for a team against the Obama
machine. Goolsby, the freshmen and all the others who supported Rouzer
have now in fact crippled us in fighting the Obama machine by choosing
the man who doesn’t stand on principle, but rather goes with whomever’s
paying. In the New Hanover County debate he actually said that he
lobbied for Amnesty for illegals because that’s what he was told to do.[3]

Rouzer
could not win one debate, could not inspire half the enthusiasm that
Pantano did, and to say the least wasn’t nearly the most Conservative or
able candidate. All he had going for him was other people propping him
up. How can a puppet do political battle with the Democrat machine?

We
have seen what the parties do to truly Conservative candidates.
Pantano is not the only one who had the district redrawn from under
him. It’s being done to Allen West in Florida,[4]
and many other strong Conservatives across the country. It goes
without saying that the Leftists want to destroy them, but so does the
Right. They do not want to lose their power and pensions any more than
the Democrats. They do not want to lose control of the country’s purse
strings. They do not care about fighting corruption in Washington,
reducing the debt that is crushing us, or bringing the economy back from
the pit. They do not care about protecting citizens and our liberty.
They care about getting
elected. Just like the Democrats, it is the mission of the Republican
party - not to promote the values of the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution, but “to help elect Republican candidates.”

If
it wasn’t abundantly clear before, it is now: We are not just fighting
the Democrats for the soul of our country. We are fighting the
Republicans as well. The Republicans are in bed with Big Business that
benefits from cheap labor. They are working with groups like La Raza
that don’t want Hispanics to assimilate as American citizens, they want
to eliminate our borders and claim American states as theirs. They are
recruiting for “diversity” rather than standing on Conservative
principle as they’ve recruited Neri Martinez, who is from Florida, to be
North Carolina’s Hispanic Coordinator for the Republican party.

Importantly
to the November elections, from the top down nationally Republican
candidates are being told not to talk about illegal immigration and the
destruction it is reaping on our country. They are supporting amnesty
for illegals and pressuring their candidates to follow along. They
worked very hard using every underhanded method they could in this
election to make sure the Conservative who had the peoples’ confidence
and a strong stance against illegal immigration would be defeated.

Is
this the Republican party we’re supposed to support? The party that’s
supposed to be for Conservative values but is just the same as the
Democrat party? We are where we are today not just because of
destructive Leftist policies, but because of those who have done nothing
to thwart them. Compromise they say. We know what that means: Lose
and hope to be liked. It never works, and it’s the citizens who
suffer. We’re losing our freedoms, we’re losing our homes, we’re losing
the moral foundations that make our society strong and free. It’s
clear the Republican party - with their milquetoast candidates and their
efforts to derail true Conservatives – are not winning any battles for
us.

So
it’s up to us – to vote our principles, not just the candidate with the
letter behind their name that we like. Busy as we are being the
bread-winner, taking care of home and family and all the other to-do’s –
we must educate ourselves about our local politics and elected
officials. Send your money to your candidate, not the party. Educate
yourself and vote your principles. And shine the light on the party
corruption wherever you see it!

There are not many times in our lives when any of us
can say this with assurance.

Here I belong.

My fellow travelers are bound together by one common thread that
brought us together – cancer.

Our gathering place is the chemo suite at the Hanover
Hematology/Oncology facility in Wilmington.

This is not designed as a social center. Its purpose
is to treat cancer victims with sophisticated, individually designed
chemotherapy treatments administered intravenously. These high-tech drugs kill
cancer. Boost survival rates. Offer more precious time to patients.

There are usually twenty or more patients here at
any one time. I am one of them. We sit in comfortable padded recliners, as
registered nurses circulate about, hooking us up to IV units that drip measured
amounts of cancer-fighting drugs into our bodies.

Some read, some sleep, others may chat quietly with
those in neighboring chairs.

There is not a sense of urgency here. Or a sense
doom or fear. We know why we are here. We know this is the serum of life that
is poured drop by drop into our veins. And it is this that kindles the spirit
of togetherness we seem to feel as a group. We are all on a mission of life or
death.

Patients with a wide array of cancers in various
stages are in this room. I have a bone cancer – multiple myeloma – discovered
by highly-respected oncologist, William McNulty. I have endured a lot of pain,
and a lot of fatigue, weight loss, and other side effects from the treatments.

The cancer struck in my hips. In the early going I had great difficulty walking. But my treatment regimen has helped me make considerable progress.

I am one of the lucky ones.

I will spend about two hours per week in
chemotherapy, and have regular consultations with Dr. McNulty. People with more serious illness may spend as much as eight hours
in treatment. It’s a sacrifice they are willing to make for the benefits of the
powerful medicines that kill cancer.

Today I strike up a conversation with a pleasant
well-spoken cancer patient seated beside me. Bob is about sixty, a retired U.S.
Naval officer. He has lung cancer. Compared to him I have a garden variety
malignancy.

There is no bitterness in this wonderful man. It
cannot be said that he is resigned to his fate, because he fights with courage
and tenacity. But he knows that, short of a miracle, he may prolong the fight,
but is not likely to win it.

“Do you have a faith that is helping you through
this?” I ask. He looks at me with a steady, alert gaze. “Of course. God watches
over me.”

I discover references to the Almighty throughout
this Wilmington cancer ward. Earlier, as I conversed with a sweet lady of about
seventy, she confided that she had been miraculously healed of a cancerous growth. Now she is back with another threat – pancreatic cancer. I believe
in miracles – I have had my own -- and told her I would pray fervently for her.
She inspired me greatly. But this may be a tall order. Then I think of Lazarus.

On a previous session in the chemotherapy suite, I
met a seemingly robust gentleman with a jovial spirit. He looked tanned and
fit. He lives here on the coast, retired from a successful career with his own
chemical company. He likes boating, fishing, and enjoying his family. He has
esophageal cancer, but evidences no outward concern or burden with his illness.
It is like this at every turn with these people – a special breed in every way.

But back to my Navy pal Bob. He was good company,
and I think each of us bolstered the mood of the other as we got acquainted.

He said, “You know this is actually a special thing we share here. All of us are struggling with similar problems. It just
helps to gather like this, knowing that the person next to us understands. I
think we gather strength from this, even when we don’t talk. We’ve all been
brought here. We all belong here. It’s a path we have to take.”

It was a profound statement. And I feel it too. In the
midst of the sickness, the pain, the unknown destinies each of us face, there
is a special camaraderie here that is palpable, even joyful.And so the kind and gentle nurses move with
efficiency and purpose throughout the room, checking each patient in turn. With their special training, using computers, they monitor the cancer-fighting fluids going
into each individual. It is the stuff of life and survival they administer. A mistake could be catastrophic.

They have our complete trust. We must give it. In exchange they offer dedication, professionalism, and heartfelt care.
To us they are guardian angels.

Thank you, Lord. Praise your Name. For this place. For these caregivers. For those of us who wait and suffer and hope. Thy will be done.

The Boy Scouts of America is again
under siege from homosexual rights activists who are demanding the
organization amend its policies to include homosexual members and
leaders.For Grassfire old-timers, coming
to the defense of the Boy Scouts was our very first issue way back in
2000. Back then, homosexual activists unleashed a blistering assault on
the Scouts after the Supreme Court affirmed the BSA’s right to set their
own leadership criteria.In the decade since, the BSA has
become a favorite whipping boy of homosexual activists who are
unrelenting in their efforts to force the Scouts to allow gay members
and gay leadership.Up to this point, the Scouts have held firm …

However, when a 20 year-old eagle scout named Zach Wahl admonished BSA policies in his recently published book “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family,” about his two lesbian moms, and then delivered 275,000 petitions demanding the BSA change it’s anti-gay policies, after a lesbian den mother was dismissed from a Scout troop in Ohio the liberal media got involved and super-charged the issue for all of America.

Now with pressure mounting it seems the Scouts have agreed to “carefully review” their ban on gays. Scout spokesman Deron Smith told Fox News, the policy would be “referred to a sub-committee” with the review process expected to be completed by May 2013.

+ + Are Homosexual Activists speaking for you, verne?

Right now in America, homosexual activists are aggressively targeting the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in an effort to radically redefine marriage in our nation.

They have the support of the President who has instructed the Department of Justice not to defend DOMA cases – something the DOJ is constitutionally bound to do – enforce existing laws; despite the fact that the majority of Americans support DOMA and the definition of marriage as being the union of one man and one woman it doesn’t matter …

The same can be said of the Scouts. The law has ruled they have the right and freedom to set their own policies and standards. But it doesn’t matter to the radical few who are out to silence the masses in an effort to radicalize our culture.

While writing this alert, we found a non-scientific poll by MSNBC asking citizens how they felt about this latest attack on the Scouts. By a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent, Americans support the Scouts.

verne, more than 50,000 had completed this poll. But like DOMA, your voice doesn’t matter if you don’t support a radical gay agenda.

You are the enemy to be silenced, and if we allow that to happen, the radical few will have their way with our culture!

+ + 275,000 Petitions Needed for Immediate Delivery to the BSA

We believe it is important for grassroots Americans to show support for the Scouts. That’s why Grassfire launched a national petition – giving citizens an opportunity to answer back to speak up to the radical few trying to change our culture.

But it’s not good enough to just respond with a lackluster petition effort. That’s why we’re calling for a massive response equaling or even surpassing the alleged 275,000 delivered to the Scouts by homosexual activist Zach Wahl.

Go here now to support the Scouts and this latest attack on their right to set their own policies:

WASHINGTON -- A critical document from President Barack
Obama's free trade negotiations with eight Pacific nations was leaked
online early Wednesday morning, revealing that the administration
intends to bestow radical new political powers upon multinational
corporations, contradicting prior promises.

The leaked document
has been posted on the website of Public Citizen, a long-time critic of
the administration's trade objectives. The new leak follows substantial
controversy surrounding the secrecy of the talks, in which some members of Congress have complained they are not being given the same access to trade documents that corporate officials receive.

"The outrageous stuff in this leaked text may well be why U.S. trade
officials have been so extremely secretive about these past two years of
[trade] negotiations," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's
Global Trade Watch in a written statement.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has been so incensed by the lack of access as to introduce legislation requiring further disclosure. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has gone so far as to leak a separate document from the talks
on his website. Other Senators are considering writing a letter to Ron
Kirk, the top trade negotiator under Obama, demanding more disclosure.

The newly leaked document is one of the most controversial of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. It addresses a broad sweep of
regulations governing international investment and reveals the Obama
administration's advocacy for policies that environmental activists,
financial reform advocates and labor unions have long rejected for
eroding key protections currently in domestic laws.

Under the agreement currently being advocated by the Obama
administration, American corporations would continue to be subject to
domestic laws and regulations on the environment, banking and other
issues. But foreign corporations operating within the U.S. would be
permitted to appeal key American legal or regulatory rulings to an international tribunal.
That international tribunal would be granted the power to overrule
American law and impose trade sanctions on the United States for failing
to abide by its rulings.
The terms run contrary to campaign promises issued by Obama and the Democratic Party during the 2008 campaign.

"We will not negotiate bilateral trade agreements that stop the
government from protecting the environment, food safety, or the health
of its citizens; give greater rights to foreign investors than to U.S.
investors; require the privatization of our vital public services; or
prevent developing country governments from adopting humanitarian
licensing policies to improve access to life-saving medications," reads
the campaign document.

Yet nearly all of those vows are violated by the leaked Trans-Pacific
document. The one that is not contravened in the present document --
regarding access to life-saving medication -- is in conflict with a previously leaked document on intellectual property (IP) standards.

"Bush was better than Obama on this," said Judit Rius, U.S. manager
of Doctors Without Borders Access to Medicines Campaign, referring to
the medication rules. "It's pathetic, but it is what it is. The world's
upside-down."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative insists that while broad
standards require many medical patents and IP rules that would increase
the price of medications, the U.S. intends to work with countries
involved in the Trans-Pacific talks to ensure that the agreement does
not restrict access to life-saving drugs.
USTR was not immediately available to comment on the newly leaked
investment chapter of the Trans-Pacific deal, and has previously stated
that it cannot comment on the terms of an allegedly leaked document.

That statement is belied somewhat by recent American efforts in other
international negotiations to establish controversial medical patents
that grant companies long-term monopolies on life-saving medications.
Those monopolies increase drug prices, which impede access to
medications, particularly in developing nations. The World Health
Organization and dozens of nonprofit public health groups have objected
to the standards sought by the Obama administration. Two United Nations
groups recently urged
global governments not to agree to trade terms currently being
advocated by the Obama administration, on the grounds that such rules
would hurt public health.

Such foreign investment standards have also come under fire at home,
from both conservative sovereignty purists and progressive activists for
the potential to hamper domestic priorities implemented by
democratically elected leaders. The North American Free Trade Agreement,
passed by Congress in 1993, and a host of subsequent trade pacts
granted corporations new powers that had previously been reserved for
sovereign nations and that have allowed companies to sue nations
directly over issues.

But while the current trade deal could pose a challenge to American
sovereignty, large corporations headquartered in the U.S. could
potentially benefit from it by using the same terms to oppose the laws
of foreign governments. If one of the eight Pacific nations involved in
the talks passes a new rule to which an American firm objects, that U.S.
company could take the country to court directly in international
tribunals.
Public Citizen challenged the independence of these international
tribunals, noting that "The tribunals would be staffed by private sector
lawyers that rotate between acting as 'judges' and as advocates for the
investors suing the governments," according to the text of the
agreement.

In early June, a tribunal at the World Bank agreed to hear a case
involving similar foreign investment standards, in which El Salvador
banned cyanide-based gold mining on the basis of objections from the
Catholic Church and environmental activists. If the World Bank rules
against El Salvador, it could overturn the nation's domestic laws at the
behest of a foreign corporation.

Basic public health and land-use rules would be subject to challenge
before an international tribunal, as would bank regulations at capital
levels that might be used to stymie bank runs or financial crises. The
IMF has advocated the use of such capital controls, which would be
prohibited under the current version of the leaked trade pact. Although
several countries have proposed exceptions that would allow them to
regulate speculative financial bets, the U.S. has resisted those
proposals, according to Public Citizen.

Trans-Pacific negotiations have been taking place throughout the
Obama presidency. The deal is strongly supported by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, the top lobbying group for American corporations. Obama's
Republican opponent in the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney, has
urged the U.S. to finalize the deal as soon as possible.

VERNE STRICKLAND BLOGMASTER: This is a powerful letter written to StarNewsOnline by Tim Clinkscales of Wilmington. It provokes serious thought, and this is why I offer it here. If you have other issues about 7th District re-districting -- and David Rouzer's bid for the GOP nomination -- please share with me. Thanks!

Letters to the Editor - June 13, 2012

Published: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 10:01 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 10:01 p.m.

Although a month has
passed since the primary election, it is important for the voters in the
7th congressional district to know the rest of the story concerning the
race between Rouzer and Pantano. The voters deserve to know how
redistricting and political cronyism snuffed our voice. The numerical
facts are as follows: outside of Johnston County Ilario Pantano
claimed 59 percent of the vote, a greater margin than his 2010 victory,
and Rouzer had to get 81 percent of the vote in Johnston County,
equating to 40 percent of his total vote count.

Why
does this matter? It matters because it shows that Johnston County was
inserted in the district at the last minute by the N.C. General Assembly
to achieve its own political agenda of having a yes-man (Rouzer) in the
Congress.

…

I would be
interested to see how our local elected officials feel about one county
100 miles away trumping the vote of a majority of the other counties
represented in the 7th District.

I
ask you to contact your local elected officials and let them know that
stacking the deck against the voice of the people to enable a political
agenda is unconscionable and will not be tolerated.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / June 12, 2012

GET OVER THE IDEA OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM? I DON'T THINK SO, MR. BILL. WHAT I'M HAVING NO PROBLEM AT ALL WITH IS GETTING OVER YOU. IF I DIDN'T KNOW YOU BETTER, I'D SAY YOU ARE A POMPOUS ASS, AN ENEMY OF AMERICAN PRIDE AND PROGRESS, BORDERING ON BEING TREASONOUS. IS THIS YOUR SCHTICK? GET A LIFE. SOMEWHERE ELSE.

On Friday's broadcast of
the online-only "Overtime" portion of HBO's "Real Time," host Bill Maher
explained his disdain for the phrase "American exceptionalism,"
lamenting we are a stupid country. This led Maher to explain why he
thinks Mormonism will be America's religion in the next 100 years
because, according to him, "It's a stupid religion and a stupid country,
they were made for each other." Transcript below.

Question: Would it be better if the country just got over this notion of American exceptionalism?

Bill Maher, HBO: Oh, I think it would. This is one reason why I say, and
people laugh at me, but I always say in a hundred years this country
will be Mormon. It's a stupid religion and a stupid country, they were
made for each other and I tell you, one of the things that Americans are
going to love about Mormonism, when they find about it, is, first of
all, Jesus is an American, and they love the idea that Mormon's embrace,
more than anybody, that 'we are the super-duper star spangled best
country ever and that if we have any flaw it is that we feel other
countries feel bad because our awesomeness is so overwhelming.' But I
think we should get over it.

"That day, I decided to take up my cross. And I felt so strong in my heart. And I felt Him tell me where to go and how to go," Garcia told CBS Dallas.

Garcia, a graduate of Lake Worth High School
who is studying to become a physician's assistant, is carrying a
12-foot cross on a 37 day, 1,369-mile journey to the nation's capital. Accompanied by his parents and members of his Pentecostal church, Garcia plans to carry the cross to the White House and then pray.

“This is my way of showing them Jesus Christ wants a personal relationship with [everyone],” Garcia said.
One prospective route Garcia could take leads through the cities of Little Rock, Ark., and Memphis and Knoxville, Tenn.

A close-up photo obtained by MSNBC
shows Garcia carrying a white cross that has been signed numerous
times, though video from CBS Dallas (above) shows him carrying an
unpainted wooden cross that has wheels on the bottom.

Garcia's epic feat has drawn comparisons to the spiritual walks of Arthur Blessitt,
who began carrying a cross around the world in 1969 and is still at it
today at the age of 72. Blessitt estimates that he will have walked more
than 40,000 miles across the earth by the end of summer.

In an interview with CBS Dallas, Blessitt called Garcia a “wonderful young man.”